Code Geass: Hail to the King
by kilnorc
Summary: A Britannian soldier finds himself torn between his homeland and the troubles in Area 11. As he witnesses the rise and power of the one called Zero, he begins to wonder what is the best path to settle the conflict.
1. Prologue

**Code Geass: Hail to the King  
**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Code Geass.**

**Kilnorc: -scratches neck- I'm aware that I have the habit of starting new things while other fics are being written, and I've made excuses in the past, but this one is going to be SHORT and is only being written due to the fact that while I have trouble with my other fanfics, I'm doing this out of love of Code Geass and the fact that I'm taking it slowly on my CotA series updates.  
**

* * *

**_Click._**

**"...riots all over Area 11 have-,"  
**

**_Click._**

**"The Elevens resent all of us for-,"  
**

**_Click._**

**"The Viceroy has-,"**

_Screw this..._

**_Click._**

Sighing, the young man in front of the television rose from one of the chairs in the breakroom and walked to the restroom. He stood in front of one of the many mirrors and looked at himself, his mind filled with questions. Slowly, he reached up and unbuttoned the top of his Britannian military uniform. Placing the article of clothing on the sink, he looked at himself in the mirror again, noticing a disturbing amount of scars that dotted his body. These scars he earned from battles he had gone into against rebels from Area 11 time and time again, and they ranged from knife or sword injuries, to bullet holes and even burns from explosions or fires. How he managed to get wounds like that and lived amazed not only him, but his comrades. Hell, they were even amazed he still went into battles with past experiences like that.

Christopher Maxwell, soldier of the Holy Britannian Empire and Knightmare pilot, was no one special. He was just a Britannian soldier stationed in Area 11, which was once known as Japan before Britannia invaded and conquered it. He wore the uniform, he piloted a Knightmare, he went into battle, he tried to keep the peace, just like the rest of the military. The only difference between him and most Britannians was the fact that he didn't have any resentment or anger towards the Elevens, as the Japanese were known now. Many other Britannians, soldier and civilian alike, looked down on the Elevens, and treated them like second-class citizens.

Christopher wasn't like that, not at all. He felt bad for what the Holy Empire had done to these people, but everytime he showed compassion or spoke his mind, he was mocked or even put to menial labor duties from the higher ups. There were rumors spreading through the ranks that he would soon turn against the Holy Empire, and probably executed for doing so, but so far...nothing. What was so wrong with feeling for the Elevens? Just because they're part of the Holy Empire now, that doesn't give anyone the right to treat them like they do. Because of his beliefs, Christopher not only suffered nasty things from fellow Britannians, but he endured suffering on the battlefield.

His way of thinking, and his feelings for the Elevens gave him a way of fighting that hardly anyone else had. Yes, he drove a Knightmare unit, like a lot of soldiers, and yes he has killed enemies, but he never really wanted to kill anyone, to be honest. Whenever a battle comes around, whether it be against rebels from Area 11, or rebels from any other Area in the past, his beliefs drove him to showing not only mercy, but compassion for his enemies. He never killed them right away, he always did his best to render them unable to fight, or have them surrender peacefully, and it was for those actions that gave him most, if not all his battle scars.

As he stared at himself in the mirror, he heard the restroom door slide open, followed by a couple of voices.

"Well, well, look at what we have here," another soldier came into sight from behind, a grin on his face, "Maxwell the Pacifist,"

"I thought we were calling him Maxwell the Pussy?" a second soldier sneered, smacking Christopher upside the head, "What's going on, Maxwell, thinking of finally defecting from the Empire?"

Christopher growled and shoved the two soldiers away from him, "No, I'm not, I'm just admiring my self because I'm drop dead gorgeous to the ladies," he muttered, grabbing his discarded uniform piece and pulling it on, "What are you two doing, Albert? You and Kenneth thinking of doing each other in the bathroom?"

"Why you-!"

"You're dead, Maxwell!"

* * *

"Looks like you're going to have another one to add to your collection, soldier,"

Christopher remained silent as he sat on an empty bed in the infirmary, one of the nurses wrapping gauze around his head, pinning a thick pad to his forehead where a fresh cut was already drying. After his remark to the other soldiers in the restroom, he soon found himself in a fist fight, as well as one of the mirrors. The one who called him a pussy, Albert, grabbed him by the head and rammed his head into said mirror, shattering it and giving him a large gash. That was the only real shot the two of them got on him, besides a kick to the stomach, because soon afterward he had made sure that they wouldn't attack him for a stupid remark again. After taking care of them, he simply walked out of the restroom and headed for the infirmary, earning stares and gasps as blood dribbled down his face and neck, staining his uniform.

The nurse shook her head, "Pretty soon, you're not going to have a single piece of flesh that doesn't have an injury," she smiled, "You're a handsome guy, you shouldn't ruin your looks. You won't get any lady friends like that,"

Christopher scoffed, "I heard chicks liked scars," he chuckled, "Thanks for the patchwork, I appreciate you taking time out to help me,"

"It's my job, I have to do it," the nurse finished wrapping him up, "Okay, all done. Now, I want you to take it easy, alright? From the examination, you didn't seem to suffer any damage other than the cut, but don't overexert yourself, you don't know what will happen. Just take it easy for a day, that's all I ask. Twenty-four hours of nothing but relaxation. That means no Knightmare runs,"

"Heh, thanks," Christopher hopped off the bed, gave a small wave and headed out, draping his uniform's jacket over his shoulder, "She shouldn't worry about me, anyway, it's the two jackasses on the bathroom floor that she needs to worry about,"

* * *

Following the nurse's advice, Christopher headed home to his apartment in one of the better places of Area 11, taking a personal day off to make sure he didn't just drop dead because he didn't listen to her advice. That actually seemed like a good piece of advice now, since his head was starting to ache again. Wincing, Christopher sat down into one of the more comfortable chairs in his home and turned on the TV.

_News..._

**_Click._**

_Bad movie..._

**_Click._**

After going through just about every channel on the TV, Christopher passed out, which was probably more dangerous to do than going into battle with his head injury. Thankfully, hours later, he woke up to the sound of his phone ringing like crazy. Yawning, he rubbed his eyes and felt around for the phone nearby. He felt it between his fingers and clicked a button, holding it to his ear, "Hello?"

**"WHERE THE HELL ARE YOU?!"** an angry voice screamed from the other end.

Christopher winced and pulled the phone away from his now ringing ear a bit, "What the...?" he brought the phone back, still rubbing his eyes, "What's going on? Who is this?"

**"Who is this? WHO IS THIS?!"** the voice got louder, **"This is Wes, you dumbass! Where the hell are you, Maxwell?!"**

_Wes? Oh shit, one of the guys from my group!_ Christopher closed his eyes, laying his head back, "I'm at home, Wes. I got into a fight and hit my head, I took a personal day off. Why, what's going on?"

**"WHAT'S GOING ON? WHAT'S GOING ON?! TURN ON THE TV, YOU'LL SEE WHAT'S GOING ON!!"**

"Wes, please, I'm not in the mood for crap, just tell me-,"

**"TURN ON YOUR DAMN TV!!!"**

"Alright, alright!" Christopher snapped before opening his eyes, now looking around for the TV remote, "Geez, a guy gets hurt and takes some time off to heal, and he gets a phone call from a lunatic,"

**"I heard that!"**

"Sorry, I didn't realize the phone was still attached to my head," Christopher muttered, finally finding the remote and clicking on the TV, "What channel, Wes?"

**"_Any_ channel! Just pick one!"**

"Really? So, if I go to that bunny girl channel you tell me about so much, I'll just find what you're talking about?"

**"Any channel but _that_, moron,"**

_Fine, whatever...man, this better be worth getting woken up and yelled at!_ Christopher growled mentally as he came across a news channel. He expected a normal news broadcast, with anchors behind a desk, but instead there seemed to be a press conference of sorts, with a large group of people in uniform standing behind a podium and a man standing in front of that group. He wore a military uniform that was different from the rest, something that made him look like a Britannian noble, but Christopher knew he wasn't. He didn't know him personally, but he had seen pictures and videos of him in the past.

"Jeremiah? What's _he_ doing on TV?"

**"Prince Clovis has been taken from us! He fought for Peace and Justice, against all of the Elevens, and he died a Martyr! We must bury our sorrow and carry on his will!"**

Christopher stared, his eyes wide, "The Viceroy...is dead?"

The TV screen changed from the press conference to a small group of armed soldiers. In the middle of the group were two soldiers, and they were holding onto a young man, just a kid really, in white.

"Wes...isn't that-?"

**"Private Suzaku Kururugi, one of the Elevens turned Honorary Britannians,"** Wes growled on the other end, **"That damned Eleven bastard killed the Viceroy in cold blood! It happened after the gas incident on the Elevens in the Ghetto,"**

_Gas attack? In the Ghetto? _Christopher frowned, "Wes, what the hell are you talking about?"

**"What am I-? Where the hell have you been, Maxwell?!"**

"I've been home, passed out in a chair for hours! What's going on, Wes?!"

**"You better get back down here, Maxwell, people are starting to go apeshit, some of them are even thinking of just going off and killing Elevens because of this,"**

"They can't do that, there's no just cause! Besides, if Kururugi did it, why go after the others?"

**"Because an Eleven is an Eleven, no matter what to a lot of the people of the Empire, you and I both know that. To tell the truth, I was about to go out and do some skull crushing of my own, but the higher ups want us to remain as calm as possible and try to keep the peace, that's why you need to get down here!"**

"Alright, alright," Christopher sighed and rubbed his eyes, "I'll be down there as soon as possible," he hung up his phone and looked back at the TV.

_Man, some serious shit has just hit the fan. I get the feeling that even if Kururugi gets executed for the Viceroy's murder, that won't make things any better. This is just the tip of the iceberg!_


	2. Encounter on the Bridge

**Encounter on the Bridge**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Code Geass. I only own Christopher, my friend Wolfen-Ways owns Kairi Lumina.  
**

**Kilnorc: It surprises me what good feedback I've gotten after posting this fic...go figure, hehe.**

**Axe: Just don't get distracted, people are gonna be pissed if you forget CotA.**

**Kilnorc: -waves off- I won't, I won't.**

* * *

_It's madness. Sheer madness!_

Christopher slammed his fists down on the sides of his Sutherland's cockpit, still seething from the report he had received a short while ago after returning to base. There had been a truck hijacked by terrorists that took a "detour" into Shinjuku District on the border of the Tokyo Settlement, and the threat of poison gas being released on the public was so high, Prince Clovis himself not only sent Knightmares and foot soldiers into the District to apprehend the terrorists, but he ordered the slaughter of every single Eleven in the District, whether they were accomplices are not. The Knightmare pilot grit his teeth when he heard the casualty list for Elevens was high, but there was still a small number of them who managed to escape by Clovis' order just before his death. The final act surprised every other remaining soldier, even Christopher.

_Clovis, you bastard! You order the death of innocent Elevens just to get to terrorists! You deserved to die, you pompous prick, how could you live with yourself after taking out so many lives?! Was the pride of being part of the Britannian Royal Bloodline the reason you ordered the death of those people?! Just because they were Elevens, not even Honorary Britannians, did they deserve to die? SHIT!_

The comm crackled for a moment,** "Officer Maxwell, are you in there?"**

"Yeah, I'm here," Christopher said with a sigh, pressing the comm button in the cockpit, "What's up?"

**"You need to report to the locker room,"**

"Which locker room, there's a whole bunch in this place?"

There was no answer.

"Hello?" Christopher pressed the button repeatedly, "Hello? Anyone there?"

Still no answer.

"Piece of junk," the pilot muttered under his breath, kicking the floor of the cockpit, "Need a new one...,"

* * *

A short time later, Christopher found himself being thrown against one of the many lockers of the locker room closest to the hangar. Laying on the floor, he glared back at Albert and Kenneth, and the decent sized group of other Britannian soldiers standing behind them. The Knightmare pilot stayed on the floor and wiped blood from his now busted lip, "Let me guess you two," he held up a hand, "You are pissed at me that I managed to reject your perverted sense of love for your fellow man...," he grinned and nodded to the others behind them, "...and you brought your forbidden harem to help kick my ass, then have fun with it?"

The group of soldiers were so pissed, they just started advancing on Christopher without much to say except angry curses. They would've done more damage to him if a higher-ranking soldier hadn't entered the locker room at that very moment.

"What the hell is this?!" he barked, staring at the scene, "What's going on here?"

Albert and Kenneth started to try and explain some bullcrap story they had no doubt prepared ahead of time at once, but were quickly silenced by the higher-up as his two flanking soldiers helped Christopher to his feet. He turned to Christopher, a deep scowl shown clearly on his face.

"Name and rank, soldier,"

Christopher saluted a little slowly, but casually, "Corporal Christopher Maxwell, Sutherland Knightmare pilot, sir,"

"What happened here, Corporal?"

The soldier shrugged idly, "Aw, it's nothing, sir, really. Just a little practice fight getting a bit out of hand, nothing to worry about,"

The higher up glanced at the bandages on his head, "Where's _that_ from?"

"Oh,_ this_?" Christopher tapped the bandage gingerly, "Aw, that was an accident from earlier this week. You drop a glass pitcher of water, you are just _bound_ to slip, fall and cut yourself on _something_,"

Albert and Kenneth glanced at each other, then watched as the higher ranking soldier slowly nodded, gave them a warning and walked out of the locker room, leaving them alone again.

"What the hell was that shit about, Maxwell?" Albert snapped, "Why didn't you rat us out?"

"Yeah!" Kenneth added, quickly followed by murmurs from the troops behind them, "What's the deal?"

"Well, for one thing," Christopher held his hand against his still bleeding lip, "I like to fight once in awhile, even if it is a bit on the unfair side. Secondly, I don't tattle on the people screwing with me, I deal with them myself, usually in a quiet, peaceful way,"

Albert scoffed, "A pacifist who enjoys fighting...,"

Kenneth shook his head, "Frickin' paradox,"

"Yeah, yeah, call me what you will. Pussy, pacifist, paradox, whatever, I don't care," Christopher cracked his neck, "So, what now, boys? You all wanna try and beat the shit out of me, knowing that another commanding officer could come right in and put a stop to it like last time, or what?"

* * *

"You hear about Kururugi's court martial?"

"Who hasn't? Every soldier and Britannian in Area 11 has!"

"_Still_ can't believe that bastard killed Prince Clovis, and after we let him be an Honorary Britannian,"

"He'll get his at his court martial. Bet you a week's salary they'll execute him on the spot,"

"Hah, make it a month's worth and I'll bet that he gets shot on the way there!"

"You're on! Hey, Lumina, you want a piece of this action?"

"Hm? Oh, no, I'm good. You guys go on ahead, I'll meet you in a few,"

In another locker room of the base, a group of teenage foot-soldiers, wearing their uniforms and armor, and carrying their weapons walked by another soldier, who was sitting on the bench in front of an open locker. The soldier was just about fully dressed in military garb and was putting on the finishing touches. Rising to full height, said soldier looked at themself in the mirror hanging on the inside of the locker door. A pair of bright blue eyes, a head of short, soft blonde hair and a somewhat pale face stared right back at her.

Kairi Lumina, age 19 and Private in the Britannian military, sighed and strapped on her helmet.

"It's going to be one of those days," she muttered, pulling the strap to her assault rifle a little, "Might as well get out there,"

The young soldier, along with her squad and many other soldiers, including a number of Knightmares, had been assigned to crowd-control duty on the bridge where Margrave Jeremiah and his Knightmare escort would be personally overseeing Kururugi's journey to his court martial for the murder of Prince Clovis. Apparently, the superiors were actually concerned that Elevens would attempt to free their "hero", Suzaku Kururugi, so they organized a full military convoy to be present of the transfer. Soldiers, Knightmares, air support, and even Margrave Jeremiah.

_They're paranoid_, Kairi thought as she headed out of the locker room, _Elevens may praise Kururugi for the Viceroy's death, but to think that anyone would dare a prison break attempt is...is nonsense! Yes, Elevens have fought us in the past, sure, but they were lucky, especially with the outdated Knightmares I read about in the reports. Still, we all have a job to do. i just hope nothing gets out of hand tonight..._

As soon as she entered the transport area, she followed her comrades into the nearest personnel carrier and sat down without so much as a word to the others, who pretty much spent their entire trip putting down not only Kururugi, but other Elevens and Honorary Britannians.

* * *

**"...so the maintenance check worked out okay?"**

"Yes, Wes, I told you five times already since we left,"

**"I'm just lookin' out for you, man, you know how bad combat can be if your Knightmare's not handled regularly,"**

"Regularly?" Christopher shook his head as he once again sat in his Sutherland, this time on the bridge were countless Britannians and other soldiers were waiting for Jeremiah and prisoner Kururugi to pass by, "Wes, I appreciate your concern, but this thing is a piece of junk mech, not something a guy can stick a hose up into and flush crap out,"

**"...okay, NEVER again compare Knightmare work to bodily cleansing,"**

"Well, don't bug me so much and I won't," Christopher cracked a grin as he sat back in the cockpit, looking out at the large crowd gathered on the bridge, "All these people for an escort...I wonder just how many people would come out for an actual execution if he's found guilty,"

**"If?"** Wes scoffed on the other end, **"C'mon, kid he _is_ guilty! His gun, with his fingerprints _on_ it, was found at the crime scene. He's guilty as hell,"**

_If you ask me, Wes, offing a bastard like Clovis after what he did to the other Elevens..._ he sighed loudly, "If you say so, Wes,"

**"Heads up, kid, here they come,"**

On the sidelines with her fellow foot-soldiers, Kairi was trying to keep some of the more enthusiastic Britannians from breaking free of the barricade and running out into the street. She knew that quite a bit of them would do everything they could to punish Suzaku Kururugi as he passed by. Hell, why wouldn't they break out to harm the prisoner, he did just kill their prince not too long ago. Kairi actually had to push a few away with her rifle, and she hoped that she wouldn't have to slip in a clip of non-lethal rounds to subdue them, but at the rate things were going, she might just not have any choice.

A collection of loud gasps as well as a large number of the onlookers suddenly turning their heads away from the approaching Knightmare escort to something on the other end of the street. Kairi cursed quietly inside her head, _Great, some idiot did go out and probably wants a piece of the action themselves. No one better say I didn't try and help anyone..._

"It's the Viceroy's car!" someone nearby shouted, pointing to the other side of the street.

_What?!_ Kairi, and about every nearby soldier, snapped their heads around to see that the personal vehicle that once belonged to the recently murdered Prince Clovis was indeed approaching the Knightmare escort!

The soldier's eyes widened behind her visor, _No way..._ she looked the other way to see that Jeremiah, the other Knightmares and Kururugi's transport had stopped in the middle of the street, _What the hell is going on here?!_

Christopher was wondering the exact same thing. Using his screen inside the cockpit, he zoomed in as close to the vehicle as he could and watched as it too, came to a halt.

_Looks like someone's playing a game with a twisted sense of humor..._ Christopher thought, looking closely, _Something's off here. **Really** off..._

"Wes, are you seeing this?"

**"I'm seeing it, I saw it coming, but I still can't believe it,"** his friend's voice crackled over the comm, **"This is a foolish thing to do, they're gonna get themselves mowed down or arrested in the very least!"**

"Maybe, maybe not," Christopher settled into his seat, "I'll go see what's going on,"

**"Wait!" **Wes stopped him from grabbing the controls,** "Jeremiah's talking to him, open up the channel,"**

"You got it," Christopher flipped the switch to listen in on all the Knightmare chatter and as soon as he did, something on the screen caught his eye. The Royal Britannian flag that was hanging over the top and shown proudly for all to see, was burning! He and other Britannians stared at the flag desecration, shocked that anyone would openly set fire to the Britannian flag, but as soon as it went up in flames, there was something else for him and the others to stare at.

A man.

Or at least, he and the others thought it was a man. There, standing where the flag was once displayed, was a figure clad almost entirely in black. It wore a large, impressive black cloak that was wrapped around itself and a large helmet (maybe it was a mask, or maybe both?), that completely protected it's identity.

_Who the hell is this?_ Christopher couldn't help but wonder, moments before his answer came to him and all those present and watching the live video feed that was being made through nearby news vans.

The figure looked straight ahead, right at the Knightmares that stood in front of the car, "I am...Zero!"

* * *

**Kilnorc: I got lazy in this one, hehe, the whole escape and the POVs of the OCs will be put into play here in the next chapter.**


	3. Announcement

**Annoucement**

**After some hard thinking, I've realized that even after two chapters, this Geass fanfic isn't exactly what I had in mind. I'm afraid I just made this on a whim out of fandom and I'm afraid that I'm going to have redo it. I understand some of you think and will say that it was fine the way it was, but I just have this nagging feeling I need to redo it, I can't explain it exactly, but in my years as a fanfic writer, I've learned to go with my feelings. I do hope that everyone who has been reading this fanfic, from my usual reviewers, to the new ones who came across this fanfic, will read the new fic whenever I get it up. I hope that I haven't driven some of you away, lol.**

**Your good friend, Kilnorc.  
**


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